Kissed by a Witch
by Miss. Tury
Summary: Jaclyn Leroux has traveled from the other side of the world to join Fairy Tail. It was the guild where people who were alone and in need went, people like her. But her history of attracting bad luck seems to have come with her. With being followed by people in black, dangerous magic that tended to go haywire, and a cursed purple eye, it's going to be hard to make a fresh start.
1. Chapter 1

"Fairy Tail." She read off the banner waving above her head. She had spent almost a year making her way towards the magic guild. She had traveled through dry wastelands, over rocky seas, and through numerous town and cities to get to the fabled guild, and now here it was looming in front of her. She reached out and placed both hands on the wooden handle. It was smooth, probably softened from the many people who had opened these doors before her. Powerful wizards called this guild home, wizards whose stories had spread so far parents told them to children while they were curling up for bed at night. She had heard so many of them while she was on her journey. There was a red-headed warrior who could take out entire armies single-handedly, an ice mage who could freeze your blood in an instant with only a single glance, a dragon slayer who could melt cities with only his breath, and even a celestial wizard who held the power to summon gods. All of these wizards and more belonged to this guild and had opened the same doors she now had her hands frozen to.

There was a rustling in her backpack and soon a fuzzy head popped out. It yawned before making its way out of the bag and sitting on her shoulder. The animal had the build and size of a small cat with brown spots, but the head of a rodent with two long straight ears and a red bandana that circled its neck. She didn't actually know what type of animal it was, but it was her faithful companion none the less. "Bandit you're awake!" she smiled at the small creature. It nuzzled her cheek with a small purr before joining her to gaze at the large guild hall looming before them. "Well, we finally made it," She sighed. "Now all I have to do is actually open the front door…" She gazed back at her hands which hadn't moved from their frozen spot on the handles. "You know what, maybe I should come back later. I mean it's still pretty early, there might not be anyone inside." Her hands quickly released the handle, but before she could take a step back Bandit was on top of her head swatting at her with his long tail and chattering angrily.

"Alright, alright, OKAY!" she snapped, swatting at the small animal. It chittered again before jumping back to its spot on her shoulder. "Little demon." She muttered under her breath. There was a small gurgling sound which she recognized as him laughing at her. She grabbed the handles once again before taking a deep breath and pushing open the large wooden doors.

"Good Morning!" Behind the counter stood a woman with long white hair who was currently wiping off the table and setting up for the upcoming day.

"You're Mirajane." She blurted out, taking in the S-class mage.

The white-haired mage smiled in response. She was used to people recognizing her from her modeling in sorcerer weekly. "Yes, I am. And you are?" she asked staring at the newcomer.

"J-Jaclyn Leroux. I'm a wizard." She stammered. "But you can call me Jackie." She was making a fool of herself and she had barely been there for five minutes. She felt a small bump on her shoulder. "Oh, and this is Bandit."

"Well welcome to fairy tail Jackie and Bandit," The older woman smiled. "You look pretty young to be traveling on your own."

"I'm not alone, I've got this furry jerk with me," Jackie poked one of Bandit's cheeks affectionately, only to have to quickly move it to avoid being bitten. "Also, I'm fourteen so I'm plenty old. Is the master around?" She asked. It was then that she noticed Mirajane was staring at her eyes.

Jacklyn knew exactly what she was looking at. Her left eye was a nice chocolaty brown, fitting in nicely with her dark color skin complexion and light brown hair. However, her right was a startling violet and always drew the attention of other people. At first, it had bothered her, it had made growing up hard with all the teasing and bullying she went through. Even as she got older she would still notice people whisper and point at her.

She could remember her mother sitting in front of a warm fire with her curled on her lap as a young child as she cried from the constant teasing about her eye. Back then she lived where the air was always warm, and the nights sounded like a symphony of insects. It was on a night just like this when she was crying on her mother's lap yet again asking why she had her weird eye. Her mother would always hold her close and rub her back trying to soothe the small child. "You wasn't born like that cher, one night when you was a baby, a witch done snuck in and gave you a smooch, giving you that there color. Maybe this might turn it back!" Her mother would always end the story by covering her in kisses until her tears turned to that of laughter. Not long after that, her mother died, and her father quickly shipped her off to live with a grandmother she had never met, eager to get rid of his devil child. Jackie had since learned to ignore those who stared and eventually they would look away, which is exactly was Mira did.

"The master is here, let me go grab him for you." Jackie watched the mage drop her towel and hastily disappear into one of the hallways.

"Would you look at that, I even weirded out the great Mirajane." She whispered to Bandit. She stroked his chin softly while taking the opportunity to look around the guild. It was early so it was no surprise that the guild was empty, but it was big and looked like it could easily hold over a hundred people. "Pretty swanky huh?" she observed as she looked around the great hall. "Although it's got nothing compared to home." Her mind quietly wandered to a place outside of Fiore, where things were a bit more advanced than things here.

"Jackie?" she shook her head clearing out the memories and turned to see Mirajane. "Master Makarov will see you now." Together they made their way towards his office, where the small man was sitting on his desk going through a large pile of papers. Every once in a while, he would take out a paper and chuckle before crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash. "Anything interesting?" Mira asked the small man.

"The town is demanding we pay for a cart that was destroyed during one of our missions." He read off one of the papers. He grinned before crumpling it up and throwing it into the ever-growing pile of papers.

"I'll leave you two alone." Mira smiled, before exiting the room leaving Jackie with the master of fairy tail.

"Aren't you going to pay the council for the cart you destroyed?" Jackie asked looking at the old man.

"The owner of the cart will find a new one made by one of my children in a day or two." He placed the rest of the papers down and turned his attention toward Jackie. "You'll find we do things a little differently here at fairy tail, something you should learn if you wish to join us."

"Who said I wanted to join you?"

"Well, do you?"

"With all my heart." She admitted to the master.

He stared at her, seeming to take her in before speaking again. "Well, why do you want to join fairy tail? There are plenty of other guilds out there."

"Fairy Tail isn't like other guilds," Jackie explained. "Back home in Pergrande, I would hear about you guys all the time, about all the amazing things you guys would do as a guild. In my eyes, there is no other guild. I'm having…issues, with my magic. Being around other strong wizards might help me learn to get a handle of it."

"Hmm, Pergrande Kingdom is a bit far from Fiore, you've come a long way," The master stroked his beard while still looking at her. "Tell me about yourself child, what magic do you use?"

"There isn't much about my past. My grandmother recently passed, and I had nowhere else to go." She replied, her eyes quickly dropping from the master. There was no use telling him about her dead mother, a father she hadn't seen since the day he sent her away, and the bad luck she seemed to bring everywhere she went. People had died because of her. Plus, she was trying to make him like her, not scare him off. This was her time to start a fresh new life. Makarov stared at her feeling like there was more to her story, but when she didn't continue he dropped it.

"It's okay, many of my children have a broken past. It's what makes them stronger. How about your magic." He inquired.

Jacklyn took a moment to think about her options. She could simply tell him about her magic but out loud it didn't sound like much. It had to be experienced to be understood properly, but that came with…risks. She glanced at the old man who was waiting for her to answer. She sighed before coming to a decision. "I think it's better if I just show you." She said with a hint of caution. At that moment there was a small knock at the door, and Mira walked in with a cup of tea interrupting the two.

"I thought you could use something to drink master." Mira smiled, handing over the warm cup.

"Thank you." He responded before taking a sip of the hot tea. To his surprise the flavor changed in his mouth, turning from a green tea to what tasted like hot chocolate. He looked questioningly into his cup which a moment ago was filled with tea, but now had hot chocolate and then looked up at Mira. Before he could question the mage she took a step back and began to dance, raising the master's eyebrows even further. She was twirling like a ballerina when the biggest surprise of all hit him, and suddenly he could hear the music. Within one breath and the next Master Makarov was sitting in the audience of a theater watching Mira dance on stage to the music of an orchestra. He could feel the chair he sat on, and the beat of the music as it flowed through him. He was so engrossed in the performance that he hadn't noticed a shadow start to creep in from the edges and make it was towards him. However, Jacklyn did and as quickly as it had all appeared it vanished, leaving him sitting on his desk alone with Jackie once more.

"Illusion magic," Jackie explained, answering the question she could tell was going through his head. "Everything you saw was made up."

"B-But I could feel it. You're not supposed to be able to feel illusion magic unless it's extremely powerful." He insisted, remembering the way the tea turned to chocolate in his mouth.

"I know." She responded, locking her mix-matched eyes onto his. Using her magic on him was a huge risk, but she had managed to keep control. In her backpack, Bandit shuffled before popping his head out and jumping onto her shoulder. He had a walnut in his hand and was nibbling away at the hard shell.

"Is that a curily?" Master Makarov asked staring wide eyes at the small animal.

"I don't know, is he?" Jackie responded. "I always assumed he was some sort of mutated squirrel or something." She used a finger to scratch behind his ear which he replied to with a soft purring.

Makarov looked at the small animal, taking in its long-spotted tail, and its pointed ears. "My dear what you have there is a curily, an animal only found on Tenrou Island," He explained. "How you came to find it is a mystery."

"Oh, it's no mystery. I found him alone and hungry on a boat back on Pergrande nearly half dead, so I took him in and we've been together ever since." Bandit made a snuffling sound and affectionately rubbed his head against hers. "He's my best friend."

"All the same." Makarov hopped off the desk and opened up one of the drawers. "Where would you like your stamp?"

"That's it? I'm in?" Jackie asked in non-belief.

"When someone comes to me in need of a family, it's my sworn duty to accept them," He found the stamp and walked around the table until he was standing in front of Jackie. "And for you to arrive with an animal from our holy land should be a sign on its own."

"But my magic-"

"Whatever problems you have with your magic, you will learn to overcome. Fairy tail is more than just a guild, it's a home for people like you. Mages who need a strong foundation to become the people they were meant to be. We learn together, we grow together, and if you choose to join us than you can be a part of that as well." Quickly she chose a violet color that matched her right eye and showed the master her shoulder. It stood out like a beacon against her dark skin, and she turned proudly showing it off to Bandit.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail Jaclyn Leroux."

Initially, Jackie had planned to be in and out of the master's office before the guild had really picked up, but by the time she had finished signing papers and going over the rules and guidelines of the guild, she could hear noise right on the other side of the door. She opened it slowly before stared at the people who had come in. At the bar, Mira was pouring a drink for a man with several metal pieces in his face and a head of messy black hair who looked like he rather be anywhere but there. Besides him was a small woman with blue hair who had her nose buried in a book. On the far end of the bar sat a woman with long auburn hair who was currently chugging a whole barrel of beer. All around the guild were people who looked like they had come from all walks of life. From a woman with blue hair who looked unbelievably sad for some reason, to two older men who seemed to be casually chatting about the day. These were all fairy tail wizards, the best of the best, and to Jackie they seemed, well…regular.

"Jackie!" She heard her named called from the bar. She quickly turned to see Mirajane waving her over. She made her way slowly hoping that no-one would notice the new face. "I see you got your emblem. Welcome to Fairy Tail," The older woman poured a drink and handed it over with a smile. "This one on the house." She winked. Jackie looked at the drink before taking a sniff and realizing it was just juice. Besides the large man, the small woman with blue hair looked up suddenly from her book taking notice of the new face.

"Hey, you're a new member!" Suddenly she closed her book and rose to greet her. "I'm Levy McGarden, leader of team shadow gear." She shook her hand warmly. "And this big guy next to me is Gajeel Redfox. He's an iron dragon slayer." The man next to her didn't even glance her direction as he kept his attention on the people around him. "Don't let his attitude get to you, he's actually a big softie." The blue haired mage giggled.

The man did look at Jackie then, and the look in his eye showed that he was anything but a big softie. However, the small girl seemed to be comfortable enough around him so who knew. "My name is Jacklyn Leroux." Jackie stated. "And this fuzzy guy is Bandit." She said introducing her companion.

"That's a curily!" Levy said marveling at the small creature on her shoulder. "There only supposed to be found on Tenrou island, how did you manage to get one?"

"I found him when he was a baby abandoned on a boat, so I took him in and we've been together ever since." Levy smiled at the small animal and offered it a small peanut from the bar, which he took greedily. "This place seems pretty nice, nothing like I was expecting from all the stories I hear about the guild," Jackie said, looking at all the people just sitting around.

"Well we do get into our fair share of trouble every now and then, but Natsu and the others are away on a mission at the moment so it's pretty quiet."

"Natsu. He's the fire wizard right? The one who can burn down entire cities with a single breath?" Jackie was surprised when she heard giggling from beside her. She turned to see Levy trying to suppress laughter while even Gajeel had a look of amusement in his eye. She was thankful for her dark complexion in moments like these because it hid the blush she knew would be visible.

"I wouldn't say Natsu is all that," Levy managed after she was done laughing. "Think of more a firecracker that goes off without warning sometimes. Don't get me wrong, he might be one of the strongest in the guild, but he could hardly burn down an entire village in one breath."

"What about the wizard who could summon gods?" Jackie asked.

"You mean Lu-Chan? Her keys summon celestial spirits, not gods. Although she does have some pretty powerful keys."

"And the red-headed warrior who could take out entire armies?"

Levy did stop for a moment. Even Gajeel seemed to be stumped by the mention of the redhead. "Well that one may be accurate, Erza can be a bit scary when pushed too far."

"Oh," Jackie mumbled. She had traveled all the way with hopes that the people here would be amazing, but apparently, they were just regular wizards. "I have to go unpack." She mumbled.

"Okay. But if you need anything, feel free to reach out okay?" Jackie nodded before heading away from the bar and out of the guild. The guild was so far underwhelming, but who knows maybe it would surprise her. Also, according to Levy some of the wizards were pretty powerful so maybe they would still prove helpful for training.

Master Makarov had told her about the fairy hills dorm that was just a short walk away from the guild. The pay would be one hundred jewels a month, so she would have to start going to missions to make money. In the year that she had traveled she had picked up rules about traveling that had kept her alive. Among some of them were to not trust the promises of certain dark guilds and to always keep a source of water nearby. However, on the top of her list was to never lower your guard no matter how safe you felt. She thought by now these rules would have become second nature, so she was surprised when she heard a low growl come from Bandit. Before she had time to realize what was happening a figure draped in black lunged out of the alley towards her with a sword drawn. They were fast but her reflexes were faster as she managed to jump out of their reach. She tumbled to the ground losing her footing for a moment before looking up at the figure. Whoever it was were clothed head to toe in black but on their chest, they had the red emblem of the dark guild phoenix grave. She also noticed that they had covered their eyes with dark glasses and cursed. She couldn't use her magic unless she could actually make eye contact. The guild had been chasing her for months and she thought she had lost them in Oak-town, but apparently, she was wrong.

She knew from her countless encounters with the guild that they wouldn't kill her. Whoever had sent them after her wanted her alive. The figure came at her again with the sword raised high this time Jackie was ready and managed to dodge the sword and retaliate with a leg sweep. The figure grunted and fell on its back. From the sound they made Jackie could tell it was a woman. Quickly it rose back onto its feet before rushing forward with its sword at its side ready to thrust it forward the second it got close enough. There was no way for her to go around the blade and she planned to jump above it, but a before she could make her move she felt a rustling on her back. From above her head, a small red item was thrown, and she had just enough time to cover her face before it exploded. It wasn't a large explosion but it was just enough for the figure to stop and shield its face to avoid getting burned.

This was all the time Jackie needed to rush forward and pull off the hood and glasses locking eye contact with the attacker. It only took a moment of her mix-matched eyes to lock onto hers. Suddenly from the shadows of the same alley the attacker had come from a low growling could be heard. They both turned their heads to see three giant wolves come forward. They were skinny and covered in mange and they kept their eyes on the woman. "I know your tricks." The woman said. Her accent was heavy and reminded her of her mothers. Still, Jackie could see a tinge of fear in the woman's eyes as she backed away from the animals. She couldn't allow her to get away if she did she would tell the rest of the guild where she was. The wolves separated now encircling her while keeping their sharp teeth bared. The woman tried to strike at one with her sword, but it avoided it and knocked the piece of metal out of her hand. While Jackie was wondering what to do with the woman the same shadow that had appeared in the office with master Makarov appear again. It seemed to slowly spread over the floor towards the woman.

"No." Jackie gasped. Immediately she tried to drop her illusion, but the three wolves remained snarling and moving closer towards the woman. One of the wolves darted forward, snapping at the woman's ankle. She cried out and managed to kick at the animal until it released, but now she was stuck on the floor as her ankle seeped blood.

"Please, I beg of you." The woman pleaded. There were tears on her face now as her eyes were wide with fear.

"I'm not doing this I promise." Jackie tried to rush forward to help the woman but one of the wolves turned to her instead. She tried again to stop the illusion she had created but it stayed. The shadow that had been slowly creeping had finally reached the woman now. It leaped from the ground to the woman latching itself onto the bare skin of her exposed ankle. It seemed to shiver in delight before it slowly making its way from her foot to the rest of her body until she was entirely enveloped in the dark substance. Jackie had tears of her own as she knew what was going to happen next. The three wolves that had been waiting patiently jumped then, all three of them descending on the woman. Jackie could hear them tear at flesh and bone as the woman screamed. She covered her eyes not wanting to see, but still, she could hear the woman cry out in agony as the wolves tore into her. Eventually, the screaming stopped, and she could hear a gagging sound before everything went quiet. She moved her hands slightly to see that the illusion had finally dropped, and the wolves and shadow were gone. She rushed over to the woman who was currently on the floor convulsing, but still in one piece. There was blood coming from the corners of her mouth and her nose as she gagged, and her eyes had rolled into her head with red trails of blood coming from the corners. Jackie could only hold her as the woman spasmed violently in her arms until suddenly she stopped. This is how it always went.

Miraculously the street had stayed empty during the whole ordeal and she took this opportunity to drag the body towards the dark alleyway. She tried to hold back more tears as she positioned it in a way it seemed like the woman had collapsed. Hopefully, by the time someone found her she would be far away. She quickly composed herself before heading out of the alley towards the directions of fairy hills. On her shoulder, she saw bandit quickly put away the collection of small red cherry bombs he had stashed in his cheeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! I dont own fairy tail nor any of the characters fyi.

* * *

Just like the guild itself, fairy hills was a nice place. The building was huge and reminded Jackie of a hotel rather than a dormitory. There wasn't a single person there as she walked the halls looking for her assigned room number. Around this time most people were at the guild or out on missions.

"Room 304." She mumbled as she scanned every door. "AHA!" quickly she fumbled for the key the master had given her and opened the door, eager to find out what the inside looked like. "No way." She whispered to herself as she looked around the spacious room. "I have my own bed!" excitedly she got a running start before jumping face first onto the soft queen-sized bed. While living with her grandmother they didn't have the money to afford her own bed, so she slept on the sofa for all those years. And traveling the last year meant she slept wherever she happened to be when the sunset. Lying down on the soft down pillows and fluffy sheets felt like pure heaven. The rest of the room was basic with white walls and ceiling, but luckily enough she had scored a corner room and light poured in through the two large windows. It was simple, yet she couldn't help but smile at the new room she had all to herself. On her shoulder, she felt Bandit hop off and make his way over to another pillow before settling in with a yawn.

Even though she had told the others she was coming to unpack, she only had her duffel bag full of clothes, and it wasn't long before she had loaded them into the provided dresser. The room also had a vanity, a desk, and its own attached bathroom. She quickly looked into the mirror and frowned as she saw her shirt still had traces of blood from the earlier event.

The first time she had taken a life with her magic there was so much blood, she had cried for hours by herself before running away. By the time she got home late that night her grandmother had given her the beating of a lifetime before telling her to never mention it again. Their relationship was…complicated. She was her father's mother and shared in his belief that she was a monster, but instead of showing it directly she opted to have as little contact with her as she could. That meant that unless Jackie did something worth mentioning, it was like living with a ghost.

Quickly Jackie took off the bloody shirt and took a lengthy hot shower, something she hadn't done in a long time. After getting out she went to go put on some nice clean clothes for once but realized her wardrobe revolved around heavy pants and traveling shirts. She needed new clothes, and for that she needed money. She quickly put on a pair of cargo pants and a cotton tee, but for once left her hair down instead of up in a ponytail. "Ready to go bandit?" Quickly he scurried over and got comfortable on her shoulder. "It's time we go on our first job." It took Jackie a bit longer to make her way to the guild since she had taken a different route, but once she was inside she realized that the people seemed to be in much higher spirits. There was laughing and cheering as she walked in, and as she looked around to find the reason she could see two men locked into a battle with each other. It seemed that two new people had arrived and at the moment they were trading blows with each other while calling each other names. Instead of trying to separate them the rest of the guild seemed to get riled up every time a blow was landed. Quietly she managed to walk through the crown towards the request board. There seemed to already be a man there looking at all the requests. He seemed lost in thought as she stood next to him and looked at the board herself. There were plenty of requests some ranging from finding a missing cat for 1,000 jewel to getting rid of a pack of Vulcans that were causing trouble for 800,000. It would be hard to find a job that required as little use of her magic as possible. Jackie was still looking at the board when she felt someone come up behind her. She almost buckled under the pressure as someone placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"YOU!" She was turned around to meet the harsh brown eyes of a woman with red hair. "I've never seen you at the guild before. Are you a new member?" Jackie could only nod at the woman. She was as intimidating as she was beautiful. She didn't even seem slightly bothered by her right eye.

"I'm Jackie." For some reason, her voice quaked as she introduced herself. This was one of if not the strongest member of fairy tail. This was the woman who could take down armies on her own.

"My name is Erza Scarlet. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jackie." She reached out a hand and Jackie shook it, trying not to cry at Erza's strong grip. "Are you looking for your first quest?"

"Yeah, I wanted something that wasn't too hard, but I'm really low on cash at the moment."

"A person's first quest can be challenging, you may want to try tagging along with another person or even a group rather than going alone." There was a chittering sound in Jackie's ear before she realized in her surprised state, she had forgotten about bandit.

"Well I'm not really "alone" alone, I have Bandit here to keep me company." Jackie explained while stroking his small head softly. "Also, I don't know how I'll be working with other people. My magic can be…tricky."

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of magic do you use?" The red-headed mage asked.

"Illusion magic."

"What a coincidence. If you would allow me, I believe I can be of assistance. You see my right eye is artificial and because of this magic that involves a visual connection has little to no effect on me. It would do well for someone to be able to help without fear of being affected."

Jackie's head swam as she just realized the strongest wizard in the guild has asked offered to help with her magic. Maybe her plan of coming to the guild was a good one after all. "Sure."

"Then It's settled. On our next mission you will accompany us." The mage smiled warmly at the younger girl.

"Us?" Jackie echoed in confusion.

"Follow me. I'll introduce you to everyone else." Jackie trailed after the red-headed mage until she arrived at a table with people already there. There was a blonde woman with big warm eyes and a girl with blue hair who looked even younger than her. There were also two cats there that were to her surprise talking. They seemed to be in a conversation but turned as Erza approached. "Everyone I would like to introduce you to Jackie and Bandit. I've invited them to join us on our next mission." Jackie gave a small wave in greeting. The rest of the group greeted her warmly, but she could see them attempt not to stare at her eye.

"Hey!" Jackie turned her attention to the small blue cat who had spoken. "Your eye is creeeepy." Jackie watched as the rest of the group grew wide-eyed at the comment.

"Tomcat!" The white cat next to him hissed.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Jackie said waving it off. "I really only use it when I'm hunting down talking cats!"

"NATSUUU HELP SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" to her surprise the cat magically sprouted a pair of wings before flying off towards the mass of people.

"I'm sorry for Happy," the blonde woman apologized. "He's as annoying as his partner is. By the way, I'm Lucy, and this is Wendy and Carla. Please sit!" Jackie joined them on the bench. Bandit promptly jumped off her shoulder before landing on the table and exploring. Next to her Erza also sat down. "So, when did you join fairy tail? I've never seen you before." Lucy asked.

"I joined this morning. I just came back from unpacking at fairy hills."

"You're going to be staying there too?" Wendy asked.

"I though every member of fairy tail stayed at the dorms." Jackie asked puzzled.

"Well, you don't have to stay there. I was lucky and managed to find a cheaper place in town." Lucy replied. Jackie thought about her room and the bed she had already grown attached too. "Luckily enough the last job paid enough that I won't have to worry about my rent for this month."

"What was the job?"

"There was a town that had people disappearing around the area." Wendy explained. "Turns out it was members of a dark guild kidnapping people for money."

"Fortunately, we were able to save the people in time." Erza added. Jackie turned to see Erza eating a slice of strawberry cheesecake that she hadn't seen her order.

"They were a pretty tough group. My shoulder is going to be hurting for days." Lucy moaned while rubbing her shoulder. Next to Jackie Erza had polished off her cake and excused herself before leaving the bench.

"That woman is kinda terrifying." Jackie mumbled mostly to herself.

"You have no idea." Lucy said with a chuckle. Suddenly Jackie found herself sucked into a conversation with the others. It had happened so naturally that the hour seemed to fly by before Erza returned to the table. She wasn't alone. Next to her stood two men who were currently rubbing large bumps on their heads.

"Jackie these two are Natsu and Gray, the last of our group." She didn't even have a chance to greet them before Erza took out a flyer and placed it on the table. "Also, I took the liberty of finding our next mission"

"Don't you think it's a bit soon for a new mission? I haven't even unpacked from the one we just finished." Gray reached up to lay a cold hand on the bump on his head.

"No way! I'm pumped for a new mission!" Natsu raised a flame covered fist into the air eagerly.

"We can leave in three days. That should be plenty of time for all of us to relax and get ready." Erza explained. "It will also give Jackie some time to get settled into the guild." It took Natsu a moment to look over at the new face at the table.

"Hey! I didn't see you there. Welcome to Fairy tail-"His words dropped as he locked eyes with her. "Wow! Your eyes are really cool!" Jackie couldn't remember the last time someone complimented her eyes instead of cringing in fear.

"Thanks." She mumbled, again happy it was hard to notice her blush. Natsu smiled wide before turning to talk to the rest of the group. Jackie noticed that even though he talked to everyone, he seemed to be drawn to Lucy and sat as close as possible to her. Honestly, she was relieved. Men were a distraction and a liability, the less attached she got the easier it would be to go about life. Again, she was pulled into the conversation of the table. Even Bandit was busy playing with Happy. If this was what life in a guild was like, it was going to be a piece of cake.

 _ **-Somewhere in PerGrande Kingdom-**_

It was dark out. Throughout the swamp, the only thing that could be heard was the orchestra of the insects and the water as it crashed into the docks. In this town that's all there were, bugs and water. The waters here were fabled to holding monsters that came out at night and snatched up small animals and children that wandered too far. Even though they were just stories, there was rarely ever a night when someone could be found walking outside. Yet tonight there was.

The man was big and he wore only long black pants and a black vest, but on his shoulder was the emblem of phoenix grave. Besides the sounds of the insects, he could also be heard panting under the heavy weight of the man currently unconscious on his shoulder. He kept dragging him through the quiet town until it was behind him. Soon another house loomed ahead, and it was there that he made his way too. The door was already opened as he approached, and he stepped inside with the man still on his shoulder. There were others there, and they turned to watch as he placed the unconscious man on an empty chair and bound his hands and feet.

"Oh my. Is he still alive Henri? You know you can get a bit carried away." The man ignored the remark and made sure all the ties were secure before getting up.

"My job was to bring him, breathing. Someone go and tell Jo that he's here." Near the back one of the members left to go upstairs and grab the master. Henri turned around to the man who was still unconscious, he had made the whole trip without waking up once. Swiftly he struck out slapping the man across the face.

The man's eyes snapped open and he looked around quickly taking in the old house they were in and the group of people standing around him. He gave the bindings on his arm a quick tug but they were strong. "Bonjour mister Bernard." The man in the chair looked up at the large man who was still standing in front of him.

"If you're after money then you've got the wrong man."

"Oh please, we know you ain't got no money." The large man chuckled. "The master wants to speak with you."

"You couldn't call? Knocking me out and dragging me to the middle of a swamp seems a bit much for a chit chat." Bernard seemed to find something in his mouth and moved his jaw around for a bit before spitting out a tooth. "Fixing that won't be cheap you know."

"You must be Bernard." All the heads turned to see a woman elegantly descend down the stairs. She was covered in gold, from her many earrings to her necklaces. Even her wrists had golden bracelets almost up to her elbows. She also wore a black cloak with the phoenix grave emblem in gold fully displayed. On her shoulders was a large snake whose pure white scales seemed to glow in the dimly lit house.

"I don't think we've met. I would have remembered such a beautiful face." Bernard smiled showing the bloody gap in his teeth. Henri moved over as the woman made her way to stand in front of the bound man. The snake slithered from her body to his, coiling itself around his body.

"One snake covering another." The woman laughed. The snake seemed to become tighter around his body until he was finding it hard to breathe. "That's enough Peluda, I need him alive." The snake stopped, leaving the man gasping for air." Monsieur Bernard, I am Joanne Serafine, master of the Phoenix grave guild."

"It's a pleasure." The man managed to force through clenched teeth.

"We'll see about that." The woman smirked. "The reason I brought you here is that we're looking for your daughter."

"I don't have a daughter." The words tumbled out of his mouth like he had said it a thousand times before.

"You may not like It, but Jacklyn Leroux is still your child."

"That girl is the devil." The man spat. "Ain't a thing good about her, she's a monster and if you was smart you would forget about her."

"Whether or not she a monster ain't important cher. We need her, and it seems like every time I send someone to fetch her, all I get is a body."

"Most people would take that as a hint to leave someone alone."

"Are you defending your darlin baby girl?" The woman's eyebrows rose as she waited for him to reply.

"I ain't defending no one, I don't even know where that demon child is."

"Oh, don't worry about that. We tracked her as far as Fiore recently into some small town called Magnolia, but I'm tired of losing my members. You're gonna help us out to bring your darlin child home."

"What makes you think that I'm going to help out. I told you I don't want nothing to do with that girl."

"Monsieur Bernard, we've been watching you. All that gambling and drinking finally caught up and you've made a few enemies. You owe a lot of big people some big money, but we could help that. You help us catch your daughter and we'll make sure all your tabs are paid off. All you'll have to do is distract her long enough for one of us to step in and do the rest of the work. Besides after what she's done to you, I would think you would want her out of the streets."

Bernard was finally quiet as he thought it over. He owed a lot of money and because of that, he was currently always looking over his shoulder. He didn't care what they did to her, heck if he was lucky they would kill the demon and he would never have to think about her again. And she was right, that girl had wronged him in ways that still kept him up at night. He looked up to the waiting face of Joanne. "Mademoiselle, you've got yourself a deal."

 _ **-Back In Fiore-**_

It has been two days since Jackie had joined the guild. Since then she had spent the time getting used to the faces of fairy tail. She learned that Natsu and Gray seemed to always be at each other's throats even though they were apparently best friends unless of course, Erza was there. She had also learned that even though Natsu may have been one of the strongest in the guild, he was definitely not the smartest. Lucy and Erza had been more than excited to share some of their clothes with her but she neither wanted to wear heavy armor or skirts that barely covered anything up. She couldn't wait until they went on their mission tomorrow so she could make some money of her own. The job would pay 700,000 jewel which would split up to about 150,000 between the six of them.

Jackie had actually enjoyed the two peaceful days at the guild. There had been no more attacks from people wearing black and all her guildmates seemed to enjoy being around her. She was currently at the guild hall with the rest of the group looking over the flyer again for tomorrow. The job seemed simple enough, especially for 700,000 jewel.

"Don't you think this job is a bit easy for the amount of money?" Wendy asked, speaking exactly what Jackie was thinking.

"Well the landscape itself is a challenge which is why we're going to need Natsu, but also the flower itself may or may not even be there." Erza explained. The job was to find a plant that was on the verge of extinction or already there on the top of a volcano. All they had to do was find the plant and bring it to the client so they could use it to preserve the species. Apparently, the plant itself was important and used for medicine, so it needed to be found desperately.

"Why doesn't Natsu just go by himself and pocket the whole 700,000 jewel?" Jackie asked. She could tell from the way the mood shifted that it was a weird question to ask.

"That's not how we do it on team Natsu. We're a team that means we work together, no matter how easy the job is." Natsu may not have been the smartest on the team but Jackie couldn't deny his devotion. She could tell from how serious he looked as he stared at her. Even though she had just got here, she could tell this guild was more than just people working on the same team. These guys were one big family, and Jackie needed to learn that. She nodded and looked back at the paper, but before they could continue their conversation the guild hall doors flew open. It was Levy who ran forward until she was in the center of the hall.

"Everyone." She managed in between heavy panting. ". They just found a body not far from here in an alley." The whole hall burst into murmurs over the news.

"What!" Erza snarled. From beside her, Jackie could feel an immense magical power radiating off of the red-haired mage. It took all her will to not move away and give her space.

"The police are still trying to figure things out. From what it sounds like so far it looks like the person may have suffered a heart attack." Besides her, Erza calmed down, but Jackie was suddenly very cold. She had just seen a glimpse of what Erza looked like mad and it could have easily been directed at her if she had known the truth.

"That's pretty sad." Lucy sighed from across the table. "They were all alone when they took their last breath, probably looking for someone to help."

"Yeah, that's a pretty crappy way to go." Gray said glumly.

"Do they know who it was?" Wendy asked with a quiet voice.

Levy shook her head. "No one seems to know who the person was."

"Well at least we know there's no crazy killer on the loose. If there was we would have to take care of him ourselves right guys?" around Natsu people agreed.

"That's right." Jackie agreed. "You can't have a killer lurking around."

* * *

In case you were wondering a southern/French accent is very hard to write. especially when you're from the east coast. Anyway please review, let me know how the accents came out.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take long for the news of the body to die down. Although it was disturbing, people died from heart attacks all the time. It was easy for Jackie to push it to the back of her mind and focus on the task at hand, which in this case was the job for tomorrow. After spending the rest of the day at the guild planning with the rest of the group, Jackie got up to leave once the sun started to set.

"Jackie are you leaving?" Jackie turned to see that Wendy had called out and was currently putting on her own sweater. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure," Jackie agreed. They lived in the same dorm anyway.

"Is Carla coming too?" She asked eyeing the small white cat currently sipping her cup of tea.

"No," Wendy answered while zipping up her sweater. "She wanted to stay a bit longer, something about getting Happy to change his attitude when addressing clients." They were headed outside now, and Jackie couldn't help but stifle a shudder as she met the cool air. Although it was only October the air was turning quickly, and Jackie took the time to zip up her own sweater all the way before continuing. "Is it cold like this in Pergrande?" Wendy suddenly asked. Jackie raised her eyebrows at the sudden question. She didn't talk about home, not because she didn't want to (which she didn't) but because it never came up.

"I guess?" She answered, trying to figure out how to answer the question. "It's a pretty big country, but where I was from it was usually pretty warm. I lived in the south near the water so usually, it was pretty humid out and there were as many mosquitos as there are stars in the sky." She could remember being young and gangly covered in mosquito bites, but she could also remember that if there were mosquitos out then that meant the weather was nice. If the weather was nice, that meant she could maybe take a swim in the lake if her mother allowed it. She could feel her cheeks warm at the fond memory.

"Why did you come all the way here to Fiore?" Jackie was shaken out of her memory by the question. She glanced over at the small girl next to her. Even though it was hard to tell from just looking at them, they were only two years apart, they were actually closer to each other's age compared to everyone else in the guild. If her hunch was correct which it usually was, then Wendy was trying to take the opportunity to bond with her. However, as someone who has spent most of their life being ridiculed and socially isolated, making best friends was not something Jackie was good at. She glanced away quickly as Wendy's eyes turned to meet hers.

"It's… pretty complicated," Jackie started while trying to figure out exactly how much she wanted to tell the small dragon slayer. "But basically, I needed to just get away. Even though Pergrande is a really nice place, there's just a lot of bad memories for me there. There're people that I never want to see again and people that I would give anything to just see one more time. I just needed to get away from all of that. I needed to start fresh ya know?" It was quiet for a while and Jackie thought she had said something wrong and was quickly thinking about how to turn the topic into something different when Wendy finally spoke.

"After cait shelter disappeared, I didn't know what I would do." The small girl said softly. "I felt really lost. But fairy tail just takes people like us and gives them homes and purposes. I've never been good with offensive magic and I thought that a guild that gets into fights constantly wouldn't have any use for someone like me. But they're not like that at all. These guys are my family now." Jackie couldn't tell but it looked like she could see something shimmering in Wendy's eyes. "I think this is the best place for fresh starts." They were taking the shorter way home, so It wasn't long before the dorm came into view.

"Is there anything that I should know before the mission tomorrow?" Jackie asked once they were inside the warm foyer, trying anything to lighten the mood.

"Anything can happen on a mission. Usually, a couple of things blow up before the end."

"We're only going to find a flower; how can things possibly blow up?" Jackie asked with a puzzled look.

Wendy saw the look on her face a stifled a small giggle. "I don't know. With Natsu around they usually just do. Anyway goodnight!" Wendy turned into the opposite hallway as she headed for her room. Once she was gone Bandit climbed out of her backpack and perched on her shoulder.

"What do you think buddy. Are things really going to blow up tomorrow?" On her shoulder Bandit made a chattering sound which she took as him saying he wasn't sure either. Together they made their way to their own room. Once they were inside Bandit jumped off her shoulder and towards the pillow she had placed on the window sill for him. The room itself was still pretty empty but it was slowly starting to feel like home. Levy had even brought a small flower that she had placed on the desk, that gave the room a touch of color. Quickly she stuffed some clothes into her duffel bag as she prepared for the next day. Jackie didn't remember when in the night she fell asleep, but suddenly there was a loud knocking on her door dragging her from a nice dream about rainbow colored bagels. She groggily got up before opening the door to find Wendy and Carla on the other side.

"Finally." The small cat said with an irritated huff.

"Am I late?" Jackie mumbled as her sleepy mind slowly tried to piece things together. She was supposed to be meeting up with them at the guild at 11:00 so they could head to the train station together. She turned to glance at the clock on her wall which currently read 10:15.

"You told us to wake you up at 10:00 because you have trouble waking up in the morning remember?" Wendy explained. Jackie looked at the younger girl confused for a moment before remembering that she had indeed asked her to wake her up early. If not, she would probably oversleep and end up at the guild by 2:00.

"Yeah, yeah, come on in," Jackie said as she stepped aside to let the two in. "I'll be out in a moment." She said as she headed towards the bathroom. When she stepped out 20 minutes later shower fresh and ready to go Wendy was playing with Bandit by hiding something in her hand and having him choose the correct one. "You know he's just humoring you. He's actually pretty smart." As if on cue the small creature tapped the correct hand and eagerly took the small peanut she had hidden. "You all packed up buddy?" Jackie asked her small companion. Excitedly he hopped towards her backpack and shuffled around for a bit before hopping back out and waiting near the door eagerly. Quickly Jackie pulled her hair into a ponytail and checked the mirror before grabbing her backpack and duffel bag and heading towards the door.

"What exactly does he need to pack, he's just a squirrel." There was a quick brown flash of color as Bandit zoomed past and quickly crashed into Carla. The force was strong enough to send both animals sprawling into the floor. Before Carla could get up Bandit had scampered up Jackie's arm to sit on her shoulder. "EXCUSE ME!" The small cat seethed. On her shoulder, Jackie could hear the raspy sound that she recognized as him laughing.

"I told you he was smarter then he looked, he hates being called a squirrel. I would apologize but honestly, he's kind of an asshole and will probably get into more trouble by the time the job is over. I'll just save them all and use them at once." She made sure the door was locked before heading towards the stairs with Wendy, leaving Carla to glare at the rodent riding on Jackie's shoulder by herself. By the time the group arrived at the guild, it was 11:00 on the dot. The rest of the group was currently waiting outside the guild and greeted them quickly before beginning to head towards the train station. "What's wrong with him?" Jackie asked gesturing towards Natsu. Usually he was a ball of energy but currently, he was quiet and had his attention towards the floor.

"Don't mind him. He gets motion sickness really bad, so he gets like this whenever we take a train anywhere." Lucy explained.

"A train, a carriage, a boat, moving ancient machinery, giant octopuses, you name it, he's probably barfed on it. Flame brain is really only useful on solid ground or if he's being held by a flying cat."

"At least I don't strip every five seconds you damn pervert!" All thoughts of motion sickness seemed to have been forgotten as Gray and Natsu got into each other's faces.

"Oh yeah, you wanna go? You won't have to worry about the train after I knock you out cold."

"I would love to see you try, you popsicle stick!"

" **ENOUGH**!" The two seemed to suddenly come to their senses as Erza called for silence. From the way the trip was going so far, Jackie wouldn't be surprised if things did randomly blow up. The rest of the trip to the train station was quiet and the boarded swiftly, but as soon as the train began to move Natsu let out a loud groan and proceeded turn different shades of green. Their destination was only five stops away at Shirotsume town and to everyone but Natsu, the trip seemed to speed by quickly. He was the first one to get off the train, only to collapse onto the station floor moments later.

"Is he going to be okay?" Jackie asked while eyeing the currently face down dragon slayer.

"He'll be fine," Lucy said without even turning to look at her fallen nakama. Somewhere between them determining exactly where the client was located and beginning to head towards the direction, Natsu had recovered and was again a bundle of energy.

"I hope we get to fight something." The fire dragon slayer said with a huff. "This job seems like it's going to be boring."

"If everything goes according to plan then the job should be completed with little to no excess force," Erza stated. "We are to find and retrieve the flower and bring it to the client, as simple as that." Natsu seemed to grumble something under his breath but it was too low for anyone to hear except for Wendy, who's cheeks suddenly turned a shade of pink as she tried to turn her attention elsewhere. When they finally arrived at the client's they were surprised to find that it wasn't a house, but a large building the size of a hotel. They made their way inside only to be greeted by a small woman wearing a long white lab coat.

The woman seemed young but looked disheveled as her dark blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun with a pencil used to hold it in place. "Welcome!" the small woman beamed at the newcomers. "Do you have an appointment with the doctor?"

"We're mages from fairy tail come to fulfill the job request you posted," Erza explained. They watched as the small woman's eyebrows seemed to rise as high as they would go.

"Please excuse me for a moment!" The woman didn't even wait for a response before she left the mages quick enough to shuffle papers in her path.

"Talk about high strung." Erza sent a quick glare at Gray, who in turn quickly found interest in the wall next to him. In only a couple of moments later the woman returned, this time followed by an older man who was also wearing a lab coat. The man was old enough for his hair to be gray in most areas and his eyes looked small but bright behind the large glasses he wore.

"You must be from fairy tail! Welcome, welcome!" The man quickly shook each of their hands. He seemed to have just as much if not more energy than the small woman next to him. "My name is Dr. Huroki, I am the one who sent the request. Please, follow me so I can explain." He turned to walk deeper into the building and the rest of the group followed. The doctor took them past the foyer through a small hallway that had a door on either side. "These are my offices where I tend to clients. At the moment It's pretty slow so you could not have come at a more perfect time!" He didn't stop or slow down as they passed the offices, he took them through another room. This room looked like a hurricane had gone by and dropped papers on every surface it could find. There were so many books and papers that it was hard to see the large desk underneath. Still, the older man didn't stop as he took them through one last door. As soon as the group entered they couldn't help but stare at the room they were in. It seemed to take up the rest of the large building. Before them was a botanical garden completely filled with plants and flowers. There were so many that it looked like a small forest was growing around them, and as they looked up, they could see that the roof was made entirely out of glass and it allowed sunlight to pour through. "Welcome welcome fairies, to my laboratory!"

"This is amazing," The smaller dragon slayer said, marveling at the scene before her. "Even the air is cleaner in here."

"Ah you've noticed," The doctor pushed up the oversize glasses that had slid down his nose.

"I've installed air filters throughout the facility, they keep out any and all toxins and impurities.

"How did you even manage to get all of this in here?" Jackie asked in wonder.

"I have spent almost my whole life turning this into what you see today." The doctor explained. "In here you will find plants from different parts of the world that I have collected during my travels." He started to make his way deeper into the room and they followed. The room seemed to explode with color and smells as they walked past some of the different plant species. The garden seemed to be divided, as different parts had a different temperature or setting than another. "Every plant you see is part of a study that is being used to create medicine and tinctures that cannot be found anywhere else." The followed him further into the room. Everyone was so distracted that they didn't notice as happy reached out to stroke a stem of a flower with bright pink petals. There was a small yelp as the petals suddenly snapped closed and Natsu found his little buddy riding safely on top of his head. Natsu himself wasn't feeling too well. This room was huge and there was a lot of different plants, and each plant had its own unique smell. As strong as his sense of smell was, all the different scents were starting to get to his head and cause a major headache. He quickly glimpsed at Wendy to see that even she looked a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, Wendy and I are gonna head out for a bit and get some fresh air," Natsu called out to the rest of the group. He turned to head back the direction they had come, not even bothering to wait for a reply. Wendy sent a small look of apology before quickly turning to join Natsu and head outside closely followed by the cats.

"I wonder what's gotten into them," Gray asked as he watched the two leave the room in a hurry.

"The scents from all these plants is probably making it hard for them with their sensitive sense of smell," Erza replied. She then turned to address the doctor. "You have a lovely collection however what exactly do you want us to do?" She asked. The doctor again pushed up his glasses.

"There is one plant that has always eluded me, it's called the fire flower, Amaryllidaceae miniata to be exact. Simply put this flower thrives off heat and can only be found growing on the inside wall of active volcanoes. There have been no active volcanoes in Fiore until recently, with mount. Maddok suddenly getting lively. As you can tell reaching a plant near the inside of a volcano is no easy feat, especially in my old age. I would like for you to go to the volcano and search for the plant and bring back a specimen so that it can be studied and preserved." Jackie had only been a part of the guild for less than a week, and already she was being tasked with going near active volcanoes.

"Mount Maddok. That's the volcano to the west of here, right?" Gray asked the old man. He nodded his head causing his glasses to slip yet again.

"Understood," Erza stated. "We will go and look for this flower. What exactly does it look like?"

"You can't miss it! The petals are black and orange, I even have a drawing back in my office." The group took one more look around the large room before following the small man back towards the office. After searching through different piles of paper he pulled out what looked to be a hand drawing of a flower. According to the picture, it wasn't very big, but it would be easy to find growing on the inside of a volcano. It wasn't much longer before they were done and began to head out to find the two dragon slayers. To their surprise however once they did make it outside, the only person they found there was Happy who was currently sitting on the floor enjoying a fish.

"Where are Natsu and Wendy?" Lucy asked the blue cat.

"Natsu got hungry and went off to find food. Wendy didn't want to get left alone so she went with him." Happy answered with a mouth full of fish. Gray was just about to complain about Natsu's behavior when his own stomach let out a loud grumble.

"Maybe food isn't such a bad idea." The ice mage said while ignoring the sounds his stomach was making.

"Everyone, go and get something to eat," Erza said to the group. Jackie turned to walk off with the rest of the group when Erza called out. "Not you Jackie. I want to speak with you."

"Jackie's in troouble." Happy sang out as he turned to fly towards the rest of the group. Erza waited until it was just them before turning to her. Jackie couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as she wondered what she wanted.

"I wanted to train with you for a bit if you don't mind. I thought now would be a good of a time as any."

"Sure." Jackie agreed a little surprised at the request. She was the one who had agreed to her help when it came to her magic but still, she felt a wave of uneasiness at using her magic in front of her. Together they made their way near the outskirts of town where there were no people. Here trees grew thick together and small animals could be heard scurrying around in the underbrush.

"Wait here for a moment," Erza commanded. Jackie did just that as she watched the mage reequip into an outfit that was covered in cheetah prints. With blinding speed, she watched as Erza disappeared into the thick foliage. After she was gone there was a short silence followed by a high-pitched squeak before she returned with a small mouse held captive in her hand. "I want you to cast your illusion on this mouse first." The mage stated. Jackie eyed the small mouse in her hands, who looked terrified out of its mind. If she was lucky the illusion would go without a hitch, but if not…well she had never seen what her magic could do to animals."

"Okay," She said with a nod. "Sorry little guy." She apologized to the small creature. She bent down to meet its small beady eyes. A moment was all it took before rustling could be heard coming from the foliage next to them. Only she and the mouse turned to look at the source of the noise, only to see a small feral cat come striding out. The mouse let out a terrified squeak but was held captive in Erza's hands as the cat slowly strode closer while licking its lips. Its eyes were focused on the small rodent. Suddenly, Erza's hands were pulled away as the small mouse dropped to the floor, directly in front of the hungry looking feline. There was a low rumbling sound from the cat and Jackie watched as its hind legs bunched up as it prepared to pounce.

"Enough." Jackie dropped the illusion at the call from Erza. Once the cat was gone Jackie could see that the mouse was still safely in Erza's hands, but the poor thing was on its side, shaking uncontrollably. "It should be fine. I think you might have just scared it a bit too much." Erza walked over to the tree line before placing the small creature on a soft patch of grass. She turned around and Jackie could see the determined look in her eyes.

"Now I want you to use your magic on me." Jackie stared at the redheaded mage. A mouse she didn't mind if she killed by mistake, but this was the was a life of someone she actually cared about. She stared at Erza to see the determined look in her eyes.

"I can't do that," Jackie said, dropping her gaze.

"You can!" Erza called out. "If you don't try then you will never overcome your magic."

"You don't understand!" Jackie looked at her again but this time she could feel tears threatening to form in her eyes. Not being able to explain that one wrong move would mean her life was frustrating.

"Then explain it to me. Explain to me why you're acting like a coward." Jackie reeled at the insult. She knew that she was just trying to get her to react, but that didn't stop the angry flush of warmth they surged through her. She looked up at the mage now meeting her steely eyes and trying her best to keep her anger under control.

"My magic is not just visual illusions," She said slowly through clenched teeth. "It can also be physical. If something were to happen… If I were to lose control… I could seriously hurt you."

"As I mentioned before, visual attacks have little to no effect on me. However, if you cannot bring yourself to attack me…" There was a flash of light as a sword appeared in Erza's hand. She was still in Jackie's direct line of sight as kept it that way as she poised the sword above her head. Jackie could see her take a deep breath before rushing forward, the whole time never breaking eye contact. In only a moment she was on top of her, and Jackie looked into her eyes one last time, before letting out a cry and crumbling into the ground below. She could feel sobs begin to rack through her body. She didn't know exactly what she was crying about, but that didn't stop them from running down her face. There was a small rustling in her backpack and she could feel Bandit emerge. The small rodent was chattering angrily and was chucking peanut after peanut at the other woman, trying to drive her back. There was a bright flash of light as Erza reequipped into her common armor and Jackie could feel her kneeling beside her.

"I'm sorry. I pushed you too far." Jackie could feel her lay a hand on her shoulder. Bandit tried to attack the hand scratching at it furiously, but Jackie waved him off, leaving him to grumble angrily. "I thought that if you were provoked, it might let loose some of your magic and we could work from there. However, I overstepped. Please forgive me." Jackie took a few more moment until the sobs subsided before looking up at the woman. Her hand was outstretched, and she gingerly took it before she was pulled to her feet." Suddenly she felt something warm and soft jump into her chest. Slowly, Bandit nuzzled himself around her face, and she realized that he was trying to wipe away the tears that had stained her cheeks.

"Thanks, buddy." She said thanking the small creature. He let out a small purr before situating himself on her shoulder while glaring angrily at the reequip mage. Jackie then turned to look at the other woman herself. "I'm sorry I couldn't do what you asked. The risk is too high and believe it or not, I actually care about whether you live or die." Suddenly a small yellow flower appeared in Erza's hand and she could feel the thorns as they threatened to pierce her skin, but it only stayed for a moment before it was gone, and she found herself watching as Jacklyn headed back towards the town.

* * *

This chapter was a slow one however I hate trying to fit exciting things onto the end of a long chapter. So look out for the next one! Thank you so much for the follows and reviews, they truly do mean a lot.

LostInWonderlandd: Thanks! There's more to why he doesn't like her, which will come up in a future chapter.

pookabearpie: I'm glad it had such an impact! I'll try to keep trying to make chapters good enough to impact dreams, that comment even gave me the energy to finish this chapter.


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